Show HN: Waiting for LLMs Suck – Give your user a game

• Notifications You must be signed in to change notification settings
• Fork 0
• Star 7

• Code
• Issues 0
• Pull requests 0
• Actions
• Projects
• Security and quality 0
• Insights

Additional navigation options  mainBranchesTagsGo to fileCodeOpen more actions menu

Folders and files

Name	Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 5 Commits5 Commits
.github/workflows	.github/workflows
example	example
src	src
tests	tests
.gitignore	.gitignore
LICENSE	LICENSE
README.md	README.md
package-lock.json	package-lock.json
package.json	package.json
tsconfig.json	tsconfig.json
tsup.config.ts	tsup.config.ts
View all files

Repository files navigation

• README
• MIT license

A tiny one-button mini-arcade for filling the void while a long task runs (LLMs, builds, uploads, you name it). Every game is monocolor, pure 1-bit pixel art, single canvas, zero runtime dependencies, and shares the same combo / power-up / high-score / achievement framework.

• Pick a game with a single prop: <WaitingArcade game="runner" />
• One button: keyboard, pointer, and touch all map to the same primary action
• Tints to any colour via the color prop (defaults to currentColor)
• SSR-safe; auto-pauses when the tab is hidden
• Optional localStorage-backed best score and achievements, namespaced per game
• Same component still ships as <WaitingGame /> for backward compatibility

Game	id	Mechanic	Skins
Jellyfish Drift	jellyfish	Hold to swim up, release to sink. Avoid coral & stalactites.	jellyfish, octopus, paperBoat
Pixel Runner	runner	Tap to jump, hold for higher jumps. Hop cacti, dodge birds.	dino, ninja, frog
Gravity Flip	gravity	Tap to invert gravity. Arc between floor and ceiling, dodge spikes.	cube, triangle, diamond
Invaders	invaders	Auto-fires bullets to the right. Tap to swap lane — be in the alien's lane to shoot it, out of it when it arrives.	ship, fighter, saucer
Rhythm Tap	rhythm	Notes scroll into a hit zone. Tap on the beat for short notes, hold for long ones. 3 lives.	bar, dot, arrow

All five games share the same set of features: combo multiplier, near-miss bonus (or its game-specific equivalent), milestone flashes, tier ramp, screen shake, parallax background, three power-ups, and a five-achievement set. Death model varies: most games are one-hit, rhythm uses 3 lives.

npm install react-waiting-game

import { WaitingArcade } from 'react-waiting-game';

function LoadingScreen() {
  return <WaitingArcade game="runner" autoStart />;
}

import { useState } from 'react';
import { WaitingArcade } from 'react-waiting-game';

function Chat() {
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);

  async function ask() {
    setLoading(true);
    await fetch('/api/chat', { method: 'POST', body: '...' });
    setLoading(false);
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={ask} disabled={loading}>Ask</button>
      {loading && (
        <WaitingArcade
          game="runner"
          autoStart
          persistHighScore
          persistAchievements
        />
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

Every game uses the same single-button input.

Input	Action
Hold Space / Arrow Up / W / Touch	Primary action (game-specific)
Release	Stop

• Jellyfish — hold to thrust upward, release to sink under gravity. Walls catch you gently; only obstacles end the run.
• Runner — tap to jump, hold to jump higher (variable height). Land before the next obstacle.
• Gravity — tap to flip gravity. The player accelerates toward the active surface; flip mid-arc to thread between floor and ceiling spikes.
• Invaders — your turret auto-fires bullets to the right at a fixed cadence. Tap to swap between the upper and lower lane. Aliens that escape past you break your combo; aliens that touch you while in your lane end the run.
• Rhythm — short tap notes scroll right-to-left into the hit zone; tap when one is centred. Long notes are hold notes — keep the button down while the bar passes through the cursor and release at the end. Missing a note, breaking a hold, or false-tapping costs one of your three lives.

Prop	Type	Default	Description
game	'jellyfish' | 'runner' | 'gravity' | 'invaders' | 'rhythm'	'jellyfish'	Which mini-game to render
width	number	600	Canvas width in px
height	number	150	Canvas height in px
color	string	'currentColor'	Single colour for everything
paused	boolean	false	Pause externally (e.g. when the LLM responds)
autoStart	boolean	false	Skip the "tap to start" prompt
skin	string	game default	Skin id; must be valid for the selected game
persistHighScore	boolean	false	Store best score in localStorage, namespaced per game
storageKey	string	'waiting-arcade:hi:<game>'	Override key for the best score
persistAchievements	boolean	false	Store unlocked achievements in localStorage, namespaced per game
achievementsStorageKey	string	'waiting-arcade:ach:<game>'	Override key for achievements
onScoreChange	(score, hi) => void	—	Fired when the score changes
onGameOver	(score) => void	—	Fired when the player dies
onComboChange	(combo, mult) => void	—	Fired when the multiplier changes
onPickup	(total) => void	—	Fired when pearls/coins are collected
onAchievement	(id) => void	—	Fired when a new achievement is unlocked
className / style / aria-label	—	—	Standard wrapper props

Every game unlocks five achievements per run.

Jellyfish (jellyfish)

ID	How to earn
century	Reach 100 in a single run
half_grand	Reach 500 in a single run
survivor	Stay alive ~60 s
pearl_diver	Collect 10 pearls in a single run
untouchable	Pull off 5 near-misses

Runner (runner)

ID	How to earn
runner_century	Reach 100 in a single run
runner_half_grand	Reach 500 in a single run
runner_survivor	Stay alive ~60 s
runner_coin_hoarder	Collect 10 coins in a single run
runner_dodger	Pull off 5 near-misses

Gravity (gravity)

ID	How to earn
gravity_century	Reach 100 in a single run
gravity_half_grand	Reach 500 in a single run
gravity_survivor	Stay alive ~60 s
gravity_collector	Collect 10 coins in a single run
gravity_dodger	Pull off 5 near-misses

Invaders (invaders)

ID	How to earn
invaders_century	Reach 100 in a single run
invaders_half_grand	Reach 500 in a single run
invaders_survivor	Stay alive ~60 s
invaders_sharpshooter	Shoot down 10 aliens in a single run
invaders_combo_master	Pull off 5 close-range kills in a single run

Rhythm (rhythm)

ID	How to earn
rhythm_century	Reach 100 in a single run
rhythm_half_grand	Reach 500 in a single run
rhythm_survivor	Stay alive ~60 s
rhythm_virtuoso	Hit 25 notes in a single run
rhythm_perfectionist	Land 5 perfect-timing hits in a single run

<WaitingArcade game="jellyfish" skin="octopus"  />
<WaitingArcade game="runner"    skin="ninja"    />
<WaitingArcade game="gravity"   skin="triangle" />
<WaitingArcade game="invaders"  skin="saucer"   />
<WaitingArcade game="rhythm"    skin="dot"      />

Use GAMES[game].skins for the full list at runtime, or import the per-game constants:

import {
  SKIN_IDS,
  RUNNER_SKIN_IDS,
  GRAVITY_SKIN_IDS,
  INVADERS_SKIN_IDS,
  RHYTHM_SKIN_IDS,
} from 'react-waiting-game';

The original <WaitingGame /> jellyfish-only component still ships unchanged:

import { WaitingGame } from 'react-waiting-game';

<WaitingGame autoStart skin="paperBoat" persistHighScore />

It uses the original storage key waiting-game:hi, so existing high scores carry over. New projects should prefer <WaitingArcade game="jellyfish" />.

Each game is just a GameModule registered in src/games/index.ts:

import type { GameModule } from 'react-waiting-game';

export const myGame: GameModule<MyState, MySkin, MyAch> = {
  id: 'mygame',
  defaultWidth: 600,
  defaultHeight: 150,
  skins: ['default'],
  defaultSkin: 'default',
  achievements: [...],
  init, tick, draw,
  selectScore, selectHiScore, selectPhase,
  selectScreenShake, selectDeathFlash,
  selectAchievements, selectNewAchievements,
  idlePrompt: 'Tap to start',
  deadPrompt: 'Press to retry',
};

The shared useGameLoop, input bus, persistence helpers, pixel/digit drawing, screen-shake decay, and feedback types all live under src/shared/.

npm install
npm test          # 151 unit tests across all five game engines
npm run lint      # tsc --noEmit
npm run build     # tsup → dist/ (ESM + CJS + .d.ts)

cd example
npm install
npm run dev

The example simulates an LLM call, lets you switch between games and skins live, shows combo/pickup callbacks, and lists unlocked achievements.

MIT

About

No description, website, or topics provided.

Resources

Readme

License

MIT license

Uh oh!

There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Activity Custom properties

Stars

7 stars

Watchers

0 watching

Forks

0 forks Report repository

Releases 1

v0.5.0 Latest Apr 24, 2026

Packages 0

     

Uh oh!

There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Contributors

Uh oh!

There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Languages

• TypeScript 99.8%
• HTML 0.2%